Drier



Oct; 23, 1934. s. A. COLEMAN DRIER Fild July 9. 1952 2 Sheets-Sheet lOct. 23, 1934. s. A. COLEMAN DRIER Filed July 9, 1932 2 Sheets-Sheet 2Patented Oct, 23, 1934 DRIER Spencer A. Coleman, Groton, Mass., assignorto C. G. Sargents Sons Corporation, Graniteville, Mass., a corporationof Massachusetts Application July 9, 1932, Serial No. 621,666

1 Claim.

This invention relates to a drier for drying material in a continuousstrip or piece, such, for example, as wool top.

The principalobjects of the invention are to provide a drier in which amaterial of such a low tensile strength can be dried initially whilefully supported and then dried by festooning; to provide thiscombination for the purpose of increasing the speed of drying anddecreasing the likelihood of disruption of the material; to provide aconstruction in which the upper conveyor can be separated from the lowerones, thus enabling separate regulation of the currents of heated andmoist air in the several compartments and more thorough control of thedrying operation, and to provide an apron which can be con- 1. vertedvery easily from a continuous apron to a festooning apron.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will appear hereinafter.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, in which Fig. 1 isa plan of a drier constructed in accordance with this invention;

Fig. 2 is a side view as indicated by the arrow 2 in Fig. 1, showing theaprons in dotted lines;

Fig. 3 is arsectional view on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2 on enlarged scale;

Fig. 4 is a side view like Fig. 2 showing a modified form, and

Fig. 5 is a plan of a portion of one of the aprons, showing how it canbe changed from one style to another.

There are certain materials, such as wool top, for example, which aredried in a continuous strip or piece. Some of these materials,particularly the wool top, have a rather low tensile strength so thatthey will break easily when subjected to slight tension when in a wetstate. As the drying is a continuous process any rupture of thematerial, while moving through the drier may necessitate thediscontinuance of the operation and the connecting together of thesliver or the like which has to be done under very unfavorableconditions of heat and moisture.

Heretofore there have been two types of driers for drying thesematerials, the festooning type of drier in which the material hangs downapproximately four or five feet from the supporting apron and thethree-apron drier formed of spiral wire which supports the material atall times except where it passes from one apron to another. The lattertype of drier is defective because of the fact that it does not provideenough holding 56' capacity and therefore has to be operated very (CI.34-l2) slowly and consumes a lot of time. The festooning type of drieris disadvantageous on account of the fact that the weight of the wetmaterial, particularly when it is first put into the drier, is apt to betoo great for the material itself to sustain. Consequently many breaksoccur. Fur- 4 thermore the long festoons are apt to tangle.

According to this invention a machine is provided in which material iscarried fiat without festooning and with suflicient support, when it 0first enters the apron in the drier and when it is in a moist heavystate. Then, by the time the material has been dried enough so that itwill have a higher tensile strength and less weight, it is festooned andthe rest of the drying carried out in that way. This constitutes amethod of operation overcoming the deficiencies of the present types ofdriers, enabling the drier to work at a much higher speed than has beenthe case heretofore and with a high emciency.

In the form shown in the first three figures,

there is an endless apron 10 having a feeding end 11 on which thematerial 12 to be dried is passed into the drier. This apron is made upof two chains 13, the links of which are provided with brackets 14. Onthese brackets are detachably mounted cross slats 15. These slats onthis apron are placed as close together as possible, or as close as thelinks of the chain permit, as indicated in full and dotted lines in Fig.5. The material that rests on these slats has no chance to festoonbecause the slats are so near together. Of course, it is entered in thedrier in a comparatively wet state and requires a support every fewinches in order to hold it flat.

The drier, of course, is provided with heaters 16 and in accordance withFig. 3 this top apron 10 can be located in a compartment, separated fromthe rest of the interior of the drier by a horizontal partition 17 andan end partition 18. The air comes in through a damper l9 and iscirculated by fans 20 up into the heater and through it and down throughthe two strands of the apron 10. A motor 21 is shown for operating thesefans and also the fans 22 in the compartment below.

The material in a partially dried state is dropped from the apron 10 atthe end down on another apron 24 below, which is made the same as theapron 10 and performs the same functions. The slats on this apron arenear together and the material is dried further in a fiat state.

When the material travels on the apron 24 to the entrance end of themachine it is sufiiciently dried so that it can be festooned. This isdone by means of another endless apron 25 which is made rolls 23 anddelivered from the drier in a drystate at the lower part thereof. Thefestooning apron is connected to travel at slower speed than the apron10.

Referring again to Fig. 3 it will be seen that the two aprons 24 and 25are contained in a lower compartment similar to the upper one previouslydescribed in which the amount of outside air can be regulated through adamper 26 and there is also provided a damper 27 between the twocompartments by means of which the comparative heat and moisture of thetwo compartments can be'regulated.

In Fig. 4 a modification is shown in which the first apron 10 and thethird apron 25 are used but in place of the intermediate apron 24 is afestooning apron 30. This intermediate apron is used for such materialsas can be sufficiently dried on the first apron 10 to enable them to besafely festooned.

It will be understood that the speeds of the festooning aprons must beaccommodated to the fact that a greater length of material is placedupon them than on the first apron. It will be seen that the sameconveyor may be used for both purposes and that if a machine is to beconverted from the type shown in Fig. l to that shown in Fig. 4, that iscomparatively a simple matter, merely requiring the elimination of someof the slats or the restoring of some that have previously been removed.

It will be seen also that the material comes in festoons in a lowaccessible position where the operator can watch for and flx any brokenends as they come from the drier. This means that the objects abovementioned are fully accomplished in a simple and practical manner.

. Although I have illustrated and described only two forms of theinvention I am aware of the fact that other modifications can be madetherein by any person skilled in the art without departing from thescope of the invention as expressed in the claim. Therefore I do notwish to be limited in this respect otherwise than as set forth in theclaim, but what I do claim is:

In a drier, the combination of a plurality of aprons therein adapted tofeed the material along, one arranged over another, said aprons beingformed of chains and cross slats, the cross slats on the upper apronsbeing close together to carry the'material in flat condition and theslats on the lower apron being separated to festoon the material andcarry it along the length of the drier in a festooning condition.

SPENCER A. COLEMAN.

